<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt"><div><span>Hi Ivy and all,</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Here is the link to the software code for the accounting/bookkeeping tool used by Millstone:</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><a href="https://github.com/joeterry/finances">https://github.com/joeterry/finances</a> <br></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>I apologize for the long delay. Questions, problems, or suggestions welcome.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Joe</span></div><div><br></div> <div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "> <div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "> <div dir="ltr"> <font size="2" face="Arial"> <hr size="1"> <b><span style="font-weight:bold;">From:</span></b> Ivy Foster
<ivy.foster@gmail.com><br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> treasurers@lists.bostoncoop.net <br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Sunday, February 19, 2012 6:25 PM<br> <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> [Treasurers] Meeting, 11th of February, 2012<br> </font> </div> <br>
Hey, folks,<br><br>I apologize for the lateness of these notes. If anybody has<br>any amendments or additions, I'd also be glad to send out a<br>revised copy in a more timely manner. Also, given<br>screenshots, I can integrate them into an HTML version.<br><br>Sorry again for the delay! Enjoy!<br><br>Ivy<br><br>P.S.: Joe, what's the project Web page for your system?<br><br> ==================================<br> = Co-op Treasurers Meeting Notes =<br> ==================================<br><br>Scribe: Ivy Foster<br>Date: Saturday, 11th February, 2012<br><br>============================================================<br>= Table of Contents =<br>=====================<br><br>Intro<br>BCC<br>Millstone<br>Financial management consulting project<br><br>============================================================<br>= Intro
=<br>=========<br><br>These are the notes taken at the Co-op Treasurers meeting on<br>the 11th of February, 2012. The folks involved, in order of<br>appearance, were:<br><br> - Micha, from the Cooperative Fund Of New England (CFNE)<br> - Natalie, from the Boston Community Co-ops (BCC)<br> - Gabe, from Spirit Of '76 Co-op<br> - Matt, from...(sorry, Matt, I totally forgot the name)<br> - Ivy, from Whirlybird<br> - Joe, from Millstone<br><br>Micha<br>-----<br><br>Today, we'll be looking at screenshots of the accounting<br>systems used by Millstone and the BCC/Lucy Stone. We'll also<br>talk about the possibility of standardizing across co-ops.<br><br>============================================================<br>= BCC =<br>=======<br><br>Natalie<br>-------<br><br>We use QuickBooks, as well as a few spreadsheets to keep<br>track of lenders and the budget.<br><br> - QuickBooks gives you a Chart of Accounts (an
overview<br> of all of your accounts) as the startup screen.<br> - The BCC has a money market account, checking, and<br> savings, plus the "Leroy" account (named for the street<br> Lucy Stone is on).<br> - Receipts may be categorized by vendor.<br> - You can review individual accounts<br> - You make entries by filling out a virtual check and<br> categorizing it<br><br>We use all our financial information for an annual budget<br>every fiscal year (starting in September). We report back on<br>the budget every three months; we're interested in what was<br>budgeted, how much money we took in, what accounts were over<br>or under our expectations, and so on. This is presented to<br>the BCC board.<br><br>Micha <br>-----<br><br>BCC & Lucy Stone have two treasurers: one for the BCC and<br>one for the house. BCC handles landlord issues such as rent,<br>and the house handles
food and anything that doesn't fall to<br>the BCC.<br><br>Gabe<br>----<br><br>How does the BCC set house rent?<br><br>Natalie <br>-------<br><br>It's $565 per room.<br><br>Micha <br>-----<br><br>The BCC started at Millstone, so at first this was based on<br>Millstone's rent, but has since been adjusted as needed.<br><br>Natalie <br>-------<br><br>The house decides individual rents. It's done on a sliding<br>scale based on the room's square footage, then adjusted on a<br>sliding scale based on income. As long as the house pays BCC<br>the correct grand total, the details of who pays how much is<br>left to the house members to decide.<br><br>Micha <br>-----<br><br>...and BCC is elected by Lucy Stone, so it's not like<br>they're paying some oppressive landlord.<br><br>Gabe <br>----<br><br>How many Allied Lender Loans do they have?<br><br>Ivy<br>---<br><br>What's an Allied Lender Loan?<br><br>Matt <br>----<br><br>Somebody loans money (in this case a
five-year loan) with a<br>certain interest per year: 0-4% interest. People decided to<br>pay 3%, mostly. They're /Allied/ because they believe in the<br>cause; it's a social investment. That's why they're willing<br>to accept low interest rates and a high risk (since there's<br>no government backing).<br><br>Natalie <br>-------<br><br>On the BCC wiki, there's a finance manual. We also keep a<br>finance log of everything we do.<br><br>============================================================<br>= Millstone =<br>=============<br><br>Joe <br>---<br><br>We use a homebrewed Web-based system I wrote. It uses fairly<br>standard accounting language.<br><br> - We have /cash accounts/, such as bulk foods, rainy day<br> fund, etc. They represent slices of the big, single<br> house account. We also have cash accounts to represent<br> other parties, such as vendors, the landlord, house<br> members,
members of our bulk buying club, etc.<br> - You can view each individual account with the date,<br> type, relationship to the group, etc. Each member is<br> assessed with how much they owe, transactions they were<br> a part of, etc. Each member pays a lump sum into the<br> house account, and it's automatically divvied up into<br> the various cash accounts, as appropriate.<br> - Individual members can enter receipts, which are<br> organized by category.<br> - There's also a budgeting screen.<br> - Emails are periodically sent out with totals owed,<br> reimbursements due, etc.<br> - You can view balances by year, with budgets, etc.<br> - You can also export the data.<br><br>============================================================<br>= Financial management consulting project
=<br>===========================================<br><br>Micha <br>-----<br><br>If we standardize co-ops' accounts and financial procedures,<br>we may be able to pool resources to pay for an outside<br>accountant, who could support the treasurers. Since the<br>treasurer's job is one which is potentially fraught with<br>difficulty and even legal implications, professional support<br>could be a big help---especially for co-op owned houses.<br><br>I sent out a scope of work to seven accountants; I still<br>need to talk to co-ops about what services they would want.<br>Rental co-ops need less financial advice, for example.<br><br>The CFNE is involved because we want to increase the co-op<br>economy. Also bringing in an outside accountant allows for<br>risk management of loans.<br><br>_______________________________________________<br>Treasurers mailing list<br><a ymailto="mailto:Treasurers@bostoncoop.net"
href="mailto:Treasurers@bostoncoop.net">Treasurers@bostoncoop.net</a><br><a href="http://lists.bostoncoop.net/mailman/listinfo/treasurers" target="_blank">http://lists.bostoncoop.net/mailman/listinfo/treasurers</a><br><br><br> </div> </div> </div></body></html>